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BARCELONA (
TheStreet) -- Finally, highly anticipated data from studies of all-oral hepatitis C therapies under development by
Gilead Sciences(GILD - Get Report) and
Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY - Get Report) have been released this morning at the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease (EASL) annual meeting.

TheStreet contributor and healthcare investor Nathan Sadeghi-Nejad is in Barcelona at the EASL conference and reports back that the says the hedge fund crowd around the Gilead poster broke into high fives when the data were announced.

In a
tweet from EASL, Sadeghi writes, "Consensus here is 'thrilled.' Buysiders and sellsiders alike. I don't see any big flaws. $GILD management glowing."

Gilead also announced results from a second mid-stage study, dubbed "Quantum", using the same GS-7977 and ribavirin combination. The SVR4, or early, cure rate of 59% was not as robust as the Electron result.

Why the disparity between the strong Electron results and weaker Quantum results using the same treatment regimen? Electron enrolled easier to treat patients -- 44% had the IL28B "CC" genetic variant of the hepatitis C virus which is known to respond better to treatment. By comparison, only 16% of the patients in the Quantum study carried the "CC" genetic variant.

Wall Street reactions are starting to come in:

ISI Group biotech analyst Mark Schoenebaum says Bristol's daclatasvir plus GS-7977 study is the "best case" with an SVR4 rate of 100%, "it obviously doesn't get any better than this," he writes in an email to clients.

Schoenebaum also says Gilead's Electron results were "better than expected."

J.P. Morgan biotech analyst Geoff Meacham, with a nod to his time in Barcelona, calls the Gilead data "Muy Robusto."

Adam Feuerstein writes regularly for TheStreet. In keeping with company editorial policy, he doesn't own or short individual stocks, although he owns stock in TheStreet. He also doesn't invest in hedge funds or other private investment partnerships. Feuerstein appreciates your feedback;
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